On Warm Winds
by baynard
Summary: The failed invasion of Konoha left Suna floundering and desperately in need of securing a treaty of peace with the leaf village. Calling upon age old tradition, they offer up their most promising daughter to be the wife of a man the leaf chose. Temari finds herself answering that call, leaving her home and family for a future unknown in a foreign land and a new life.
1. Chapter 1

Temari sighed as she looked out the extravagant carriage she was riding in. Carefully crafted with loving detail, the gold laced cart would not have looked out of place carrying a Daimyo, and certainly had the amenities within to suggest that it was a ride meant for someone of excessive tastes. But for all its beauty, Temari could not help but feel that it was just a pretty cage bringing her to a prison that was to become her new life.

As the only daughter to the now deceased Kazekage, she had lived knowing that one day she would be used as a bargaining chip because of her status in the village, either as a hostage or a wife in a political marriage. Yet now that the time came and her village had summoned her to do her duty to protect her home, she could not help the feelings of bitterness that welled within her ample bosom. She had dutifully served her village, sacrificing blood and tears in service since she was a child. Yet here she was, being bartered away as little more than cattle in order to appease the rage of a village that her own had wronged.

In a way, what made it worst was the fact that it wasn't even really Suna that had attacked Konoha, but rather Orochimaru who had tricked her village into going to war by assassinating her father and taking his place as the head of the village. That was what pissed her off the most. She had been adamant in her protests against the war with Konoha, but her voice had swayed little on the council who had all been poisoned by the imposter's honeyed promises of victory and glory in their alliance with Sound. Even if they had won, most likely they would have simply received a kunai in the back in thanks as they were annexed by the newly formed sound village.

The silk cloth that covered the window facing the sun parted slightly, revealing the redheaded figure of her half-brother floating next to her. Temari examined her baby brother closely as he stared back dispassionately. He had changed since the failed invasion of Konoha. Gaara had always held a steely gaze of homicidal bloodthirstiness even when he was seemingly passive and calm in posture. Murder happened on a regular basis around the host of the one tailed raccoon, the stench of death emanating from the boy in a faint odor that Temari had always been able to detect even if others denied it.

He held life with little regard, seeing others as meat and flesh that could be crushed as easily as one would swat an annoying pest, and Temari and Kankuro had been no different. For whatever reason, Gaara had always been more prone to listening to Temari than anyone else which was what gave her voice such tremendous sway in her village. Nobody wanted to piss off the one person who might be able to save them from Gaara. Though she had never abused her limited authority over Gaara, no one doubted that if she asked him to kill someone he would do so in a heartbeat. People had respected her out of fear of her brother, something that had annoyed her, but she had nonetheless capitalized on it. Shinobi were pragmatic like that.

But since his defeat at the hands of a Konoha shinobi, Gaara had become much tamer. He no walked about radiating bloodlust and madness, and in the two months since the end of the short battle at Konoha no one in the village had mysteriously disappeared. Sadly, that was a new record for Suna.

"Sister," the redhead said in his familiar monotone.

"What is it Gaara?" she asked. Her brother rarely spoke unless he had to, which made this a rather unusual occurrence.

"You are troubled."

The kunoichi couldn't help but chuckle derisively at the monumental understatement. "It is my duty."

Her brother's stare did not waver and after a moment he spoke.

"But you do not wish to carry it out."

Sighing Temari turned her head away. "No, but our village needs this. If it will prevent Suna from being destroyed, I will do what I must."

Silence reigned between the two siblings, broken only by the soft clip clop of the horse pulling the carriage and the turning of the wagon wheel.

"Sister, if you do not wish to do this than you do not have to."

Chuckling slightly at the seemingly simplistic thought process of her brother, Temari couldn't help but wonder at how Gaara viewed the world. The boy had grown up with little affection after their uncle had been sent to assassinate him as a child, and his contact with humans had mostly been in regards to killing rather than relationship building. She and Kankuro had known of their half-brother but had had little contact with him until they were put together as a team, and by then Gaara was already lost in his hatred of the world and all those who lived in it.

"It's not that simple Gaara," she said gently.

"It is that simple," he insisted flatly, his unwavering gaze never leaving her face.

"What would you have me do?" she asked amused. "Even if I ran the shinobi guarding me would catch up quickly and I would find myself handed over regardless, except perhaps with less dignity."

"They cannot catch you if they're dead," he stated flatly.

Eyes widened slightly at her brother's casual pronouncement, Temari couldn't help but shiver slightly. Gaara may have changed, but there was still no doubt in her mind that if he wanted to he could carry out that task with little effort. An entire squad of Anbu would stand little chance against the host if it came down to a fight, let alone if Gaara struck first.

"It's ok Gaara," she said carefully. "If it wasn't Konoha it would have been some other village. I've always known this day would come, I just didn't expect it to be so soon I suppose. I'm ok with it."

Her brother gave her a long searching look before nodding slowly and vanishing in a cloud of sand. The cloth covering fell back into place and Temari smiled sadly. It was odd how she felt more comfortable with the old homicidal Gaara than this new alien person who she couldn't really get a read on anymore. And now she would never get the chance to get to know this new Gaara.

Her thoughts were interrupted as the cloth pushed aside once more, this time showing the face of her other younger brother.

"Did my ears deceive me or did Gaara just offer to murder everyone here so that you don't have to get hitched?"

Laughing slightly, Temari smiled at her other sibling. Kankuro could be a bit of an asshole sometimes, but he could always make her laugh with a well-placed snide comment or dry remark when he put his mind to it.

"Something like that. Tempting, but I had to turn him down. Good of the village and all that." She raised her hand up in a mock enthusiastic fist pump.

"I guess this confirms once and for all people's fear that Gaara would kill on your command," snickered Kankuro. "A lot of people are worried about how he's gonna act once you're gone. The beast will be off the leash and all that."

"It's not like he ever did what I said," Temari scoffed. "Compared to the number of times he ignored me, I'm pretty sure the few times he did listen was insignificant, and probably on a whim anyways."

"Yeah well I'm pretty sure no one else ever got him to spare someone because they asked," Kankuro chortled. "He'd have probably buried me in the sand as well if I did!"

The two siblings shared another laugh together. It went to say how dysfunctional their relationship was that they were laughing at the fact that a member of their family had no problems killing them. As there merriment died, a solemn silence fell between them. They rode in peace for a while before Kankuro spoke again.

"I'm gonna miss you sis," he said gruffly. The Sabaku family was not prone to emotions, let alone discussing them out in the open.

"Me or my cooking?" Temari teased.

"Your cooking of course!" he shot back with a playful sneer. "Nothing else you're much good for. That and serving as a distraction so I can run if Gaara ever feels homicidal and there's no other victims around."

Laugh softly, Temari turned her head away.

"I'm going to miss you too," she said quietly. "Try not to get killed by Gaara while I'm away alright?"

"You make it sound like you'll be coming back," her brother said sadly.

Turning her head away at the slight unexpected wave of emotion rushing through her at his words, Temari blinked back the sting in her eyes. She wasn't ever going to go back to her home. One last mission as a kunoichi for Suna, and her fate would be bound to the side of some man she didn't know.

"Who knows, maybe I'll convince my husband to move back to Suna with me," she said after she got herself under control.

"What, so he can live with Gaara hovering over his shoulder?" laughed Kankuro. "No sane man would agree to that!"

"I think he'd be more weirded out by my brother who wears more make-up than I do," she teased.

"For the last time," sighed her brother, "its war paint!"

Laughing at the familiar exasperated expression on his face, Temari drank in the image of her second youngest brother. They had never been particularly close, but they had got along well enough as far as siblings went. Perhaps better than most since they had shared a very real fear of being murdered in their sleep by their third sibling, and that desire to live had been a bonding factor. Codependency for survival had a way of forging strong relationships.

Kankuro gave one last shake of his head and let the cloth fall back into place, leaving Temari alone to her thoughts once more. Here she was, a beautiful 17 year old woman reaching the prime of her youth about to be sold off to some wrinkly old official whose importance was probably only outweighed by the girth of his waist. She grimaced at the unbidden image of some faceless old man groping her as he prepared to have his way with her body. It may have been her duty as a wife to see to his needs in bed, but that was the one aspect of her rather dark future she least looked forward to. Maybe she should have just gone and offered her virginity to the first handsome man she came across after she found out about the marriage deal.

'Seventeen years old and I haven't even had my first kiss,' she thought wistfully.

She had always been pretty, but as she grew older those childish good looks had morphed into a feral beauty that turned heads wherever she went. Of course, when they caught sight of who they were ogling, people in Suna quickly turned to look away in case Gaara was nearby. Chuckling slightly at the thought of forcing a man to sleep with her with the threat of sending Gaara after him if he didn't, Temari shook with silent laughter. There was a catch 22 if she ever heard of one; don't do it and Gaara would kill them, do it and Gaara would kill them anyways if he found out.

Entertained by her dark thoughts, Temari allowed the gentle rocking of the cart lull her into a fitful sleep. She'd find out what life had in store for her soon enough. Hopefully it wouldn't be as bad as she imagined, but she wasn't going to hold her breath. Life was a bitch like that.


	2. Chapter 2

As the cart finally ground to a halt, Temari could feel the bundle of nerves her stomach had become weigh heavily in her body. They had finally reached the agreed upon halfway point where she was to be handed over to new husband and his Konoha escort. Hearing the soft tap at the doorway, the kunoichi from Suna gave her own form one last cursory overlook. Loathe as she was to go through with it, she would make sure she did it right. Any failures on her part would reflect upon Suna.

Satisfied that she was presentable in her battle kimono, she took a deep breath and exited the carriage with a turn of the handle. Her escort was fanned out around the expensive looking transport, eyes peeled for danger. No doubt some enterprising nation might try something to destabilize the peace process between the two allies that had recently spilled each other's blood in order to capitalize on the continued chaos of the aftermath of the failed invasion of Konoha.

Across from the carriage some thirty meters away stood a group of leaf ninja, no doubt the group that was to ensure she safely got to the leaf village. Scanning the crowd, she tried to pick out who her new husband might be. She crossed off the masked Anbu members present as they were no doubt simply there to act as guards. Kakashi Hatake was present, and for a moment she wondered if perhaps he was to be her husband. She could certainly do worst. But with his genin team present as well, it was more than likely just a chance for him to practice running a diplomatic op with his squad.

She felt some bile rise to her throat as it left only one person in the present group. He was indeed an older man if she was being kind, witheringly ancient if she were asked to be candid. He walked with a cane, his other hand wrapped up in a sling, a permanent fixture by his side judging by the well-worn state of the cloth. His right eye was covered in bandages, either a recent injury or a lasting disfigurement. The exposed parts of his face was marred with scars and wrinkled with age. It would seem that Konoha had deemed fit to marry her to a cripple. Either a calculated insult or perhaps the man held more esteem than she suspected.

Kankuro and Baki had moved up to flank her as they advanced towards the group, the old man coming forth to meet them with a surprisingly steady step for a man that needed a cane. Perhaps it was just for show to throw off his enemies?

"Greetings," he began in a rough sandpaper voice. "We welcome the daughter of the sand into the folds of the leaves."

Ah, a traditional greeting then. At least the man was cultured, she thought. That had to count for something.

"I bid you thanks in offering me warmth by your hearth and shelter in your home," Temari automatically replied, the stiff formal wording spilling from her mouth with the ease of practice. She even managed to say it without a hint of sarcasm or drop of venom in her words. Maybe she might be able to prevent all-out war after all.

The older man nodded in approval before turning his body slightly to face his own forces and thumping his cane on the ground. With that, one of Kakashi's genin stepped forward, a sullen scowl on his face. As he came closer, Temari almost unconsciously took a step back as she realized with a start that this was the boy who had defeated her brother.

During the chunin exams, Temari had thought the blonde to be a loudmouthed fool who had simply lucked his way through the tests. His brash announcement to the surrounding group during his entrance had evoked a disdainful sneer from her, and his strategy for defeating the Inuzaka had been laughable at best. But now that she thought about it, he was probably more experienced as a shinobi than she. He certainly had pulled the wool over her eyes in making her think that he was a buffoon when he had in fact had the skills to defeat her brother when Gaara had been in a full on massacre mode. Even her late father would have beaten hasty retreat in the face of the raccoon demon fully unleashed.

"May I introduce to you your new husband, Uzumaki Naruto," the crippled man intoned with a half gesture of the hand holding the cane.

At once, both relief and tribulation coursed through her body. So she was being matched with someone close to her age. That was one of her fears settled at least. But the one they had chosen happened to be Konoha's own monster it seems. Anyone who could defeat her brother couldn't be anything less in her mind.

Opening her mouth to greet him with the lines she had practiced in her head through half her trip from Suna, she found herself interrupted by a harsh swirl of sands. Instantly the half dozen Konoha Anbu had various weapons in hand, bodies tensed to spring into action at a moment's notice, though nobody had moved from the formation. Even without turning, Temari could practically feel the fear and dread rolling off the people behind her.

"Gaara," Temari stuttered at the redhead's back.

"Oh shit," she heard Kankuro whisper from next to her.

Baki's face may as well been carved from stone, his expression mirrored by the crippled man who had not reacted at all to Gaara's entrance. The redhead ignored everyone around him, instead choosing to take a step forward so that he was face to face with the blonde genin from the leaf.

"Uzumaki Naruto," the demon host stated slowly, as if tasting the name for poison.

"Gaara," greeted the boy calmly in an equally neutral tone.

Anyone who could look Gaara dead in the eye as they spoke was either very self-assured of their own skills or a complete fool in Temari's books. More than likely the latter even if they were particularly skilled, but here was someone who had fought her brother and not only lived, but won. Her stomach felt like it might explode from the tension. Was Gaara about to make good on his offer to kill everyone?

"You will care for my sister as you would one of your precious people?" The question coming from Gaara was so unusual that Temari was fairly certain she heard one of her people drop their kunai in surprise.

"I will," Naruto replied with a serious expression after a long pause in which the two genin exchanged hard gazes.

Gaara gave a measured nod after a moment. "Do so, or I will come find you. And should that come to pass, only one of us will walk."

As Gaara stepped away from the blonde, the tension in the air eased somewhat. He pulled back until he stood facing Temari.

"Goodbye sister," he said dispassionately. "I will come if you need me."

With that, he once more vanished into a cloud of sand, and this time Temari was certain she heard a kunai hit the ground from the general direction of the Suna Anbu.

"Well that was exciting," drawled Kakashi as he stepped up behind his student, his body relaxed in posture in comparison to his comrades who still showed hints of their unease, especially the two other genin hanging further back. "We should head out before anyone gets any funny ideas Danzo-san."

The older man nodded and gestured for Temari and her husband to step into the carriage the Konoha shinobi had brought with them. Interesting enough, there was no animal drawing the vehicle, just a masked Anbu member seated in the driver's area of the coach.

Taking a deep breath, she followed her new husband up the cart, never once looking back. It would be too much if she had to say goodbye. Kankuro would understand. And if he didn't? Well the Sabaku family was never big on emotions anyways.


	3. Chapter 3

The carriage ride was stiff and awkward, unsurprising as the occupants within didn't really know each other and was facing a rather unpleasant situation neither could get out of. They had spent the past half hour riding in relative silence, each picking a spot to stare at that allowed them to watch the other out of the corner of their eyes, both fully aware that the other was doing the same thing. Perhaps some might have considered it paranoia, but they were both shinobi whose village had been at war just a couple of weeks back. It would have been stranger if they weren't paranoid.

The clear opening that served as the window to the outside world was blocked somewhat as Kakashi strode into view, peering inside with an amused expression on his face. "Well I see you two are getting along fabulously."

Naruto gave a noncommittal grunt as he continued to determinately glare a hole in the opposing side of the carriage, a close enough distance that Temari could swear she could feel her ear burning. The sand kunoichi had more than one snarky reply ready to go, but decided it was perhaps not a good idea to antagonize the man who was the sensei to her future husband and settled for a shrug instead.

Getting no verbal answer from either of the teenagers, Kakashi gave one of his trademark eye smiles. "You two really should get to know each other you know. Makes the first time in the bedroom a little less awkward. Take it from me, nothing more awkward than standing naked in front of someone and realizing you don't know their name."

Flushing slightly at the casual mention of sex, a rather taboo topic in Suna, Temari averted her eyes. Fidgeting somewhat at the hem of her battle kimono, she watched for her husband's reaction from her peripheral vision.

"Not helping sensei," the blonde male ground out with a glare.

"That's what I'm here for," said Kakashi with a thumbs up through the window.

Naruto replied with a one finger salute, causing the silver haired jounin to chuckle. After a moment he fell out of sight, and Temari felt her face return somewhat to normal. It seemed Naruto had a rather loose relationship with his sensei even if the man was his commanding officer. Baki had allowed no backtalk from his genin, even Gaara had respected the man enough to show proper decorum when he wasn't in one of his homicidal moods.

"So, are you going to try to kill me?"

The question was so unexpected that Temari could only stare blankly at her husband seated across from her.

"Excuse me?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Naruto turned his head to face her and Temari found herself lost in an ocean of blue as their gaze locked. She had never seen anyone with that particular shade of eyes before. It sent a shiver down her spine to be trapped within the intense searching look he was giving

"I figured with my shit luck you're on a suicide mission to give Konoha one last black eye before war breaks out," Naruto said impassively. "So if we're going to do this, we might as well settle this here and now so we can be done with it. At least that way we don't have to try to pretend to get along and play the part of the circus monkeys for the higher ups."

Temari felt her other eyebrow shoot up to mirror the first as her measure of the boy increased a notch. So he wasn't completely clueless as she had thought.

"I saw you take down Gaara, even if I were here to assassinate you, you really think I'd do it up front?" she asked in amusement.

The blonde boy shrugged. "It was worth a shot. Guess I better check everything you give me from now on huh?"

Temari smirked as she examined her younger husband to be. He certainly wasn't hard on the eyes, a bit on the short side, but he probably hadn't hit his growth spurt yet so she didn't quite need to despair for the moment. She could see a rather good looking man in him a couple years down the road. The hideous orange jumpsuit he had pranced about in during the chunin exams had been replaced with darker more shinobi like clothing, though from the new quality they exuded they were likely a recent purchase that had probably only seen the washer once.

"I'm not here to start trouble," she finally said after a long moment passed between them. "I'm here to make sure Konoha knows that Suna is serious about repairing this alliance."

To her surprise her husband barked out a dark laugh at the mention of the alliance. "I'm sure you guys want this thing to work out pretty badly given how fucked you'd be if we did go to war. What makes you so sure that Konoha gives a damn about this alliance?"

Scowling at the jab at her village the blonde teen glared at her younger counterpart. "Oh and how do you know if Konoha is serious about the alliance or not huh? Last I checked you were still a genin and you don't exactly strike me as the type to know someone high up enough on the chain of command to be privy to such information."

Naruto snorted and looked away from her, going back to gazing out the window.

"They chose to marry you to me didn't they? That says a whole lot about how much they care."

Staring at the sullen boy sitting across from her, Temari felt her stomach sink slightly. "What? What do you mean?"

A dark chuckled escaped from Naruto's lips. "I don't know what type of reception you're expecting in Konoha, but trust me when I say that you could have done a lot better than me. In fact, just about anyone would have been better than me."

With that enigmatic answer, the blonde clamped up, refusing to say more no matter how much she prodded him. They fell back into silence, each lost in their own thought about their uncertain future together. It would be a long ride back to Konoha.


End file.
